There’s a new craft project posted in the Extras section that shows you how to transform toilet paper rolls into snazzy containers for candies and other little surprises. Treat Tubes are easy to put together and are definitely more impressive than those little treat sacks you buy at party stores. If you’re planning for a Halloween party or want something creative to give out on Halloween night, start saving up your toilet paper rolls and get to craftin’.

There’s always something new going on at Zombie Pumpkins. Proprietor, stencil illustrator, webmaster, and zombie-wrangler, Ryan, is a man of many talents and ideas. Not content to let his site rot like an old pumpkin, it receives a steady creative transfusion every Halloween season. So what’s new at the best pumpkin carving pattern site on the Internet?

• Each year a new zombie-related theme for the website is chosen and for 2008 it’s “Night of the Zombie Pumpkins“. As always, there’s an amazing new site design to go with it. It’s seriously worth it to visit the entire site just to see how detailed and cohesive the design is.
• Each year Zombie Pumpkins chooses a new charity to raise funds for. This Halloween your purchase of a “Monster All Access” membership will help Free Arts for Abused Children. (You will also get some exclusive bonus pumpkin patterns!)
• Finally, the real guts of the site are the amazing new pumpkin stencils that come from Ryan’s original illustrations. The collection is already huge, but he adds new designs all the time. Freshest from the pumpkin patch are shown below. For those about to carve, we salute you!

With Halloween about a month away, seasonal chain stores are popping up everywhere. They’re definitely a fun experience, but feel a little sterile, a little canned. Don’t you wish a Mom and Pop Shop of Horrors would show up instead? That’s just how Los Angeles based The Mighty Squirm describe themselves and their online store of creepy t-shirts. Lovers of chilling design, Thea and Daniel create spooky detailed original illustrations and put them on high quality cotton shirts. Many of them glow in the dark and come on organic cotton, too! Their company is named in honor of their daughter and so there are plenty of creepy-cute kids shirts and placemates to choose from as well.

One aspect we really like is that all of their designs are free of text. As The Mighty Squirm says, “each of our designs serve as the beginning of a romantic, thrilling story that really drives your imagination”. The illustrations are intriguing and detailed enough to speak for themselves.

Photo (c) James Jordan

For those of you in the Northern Hemisphere, today marks the first day of Fall. (There are now just 38 days until Halloween!) What’s so special about this day? Today the tilt of the earth’s axis makes the nighttime equal to the daytime. Everywhere on earth experiences close to 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime. Wow.

To learn more about the amazing significance and history of the Fall Equinox, check out our newest article.

Avast, Halloweenies! Today indeed be Talk Like A Pirate Day, where beauties and bilge rats alike put some extra swagger in their speech. Why? Tis’ all in good fun, maties!

If September 19th isn’t enough to whet your pirate whistle, pirates make an adventurously fun Halloween theme, too. Since the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie came out in 2003, pirate parties and pirate costumes have become a very familiar part of our culture. It might be the middle of February but you can probably find someone who’s having a pirate themed party. Could be your co-worker or 4 year old niece! The pirate mythology is so full of adventure, romance, mystery, and surprises that it appeals to most of us on some level. It’s not surprising that since 2003, pirates have ranked on Top Costume lists every single Halloween.

If you fancy yourself a swashbuckler this Halloween, check out these customer favorite pirate costumes for some inspiration…

Reusable bags are probably the most popular way that people are “going green” right now. Everybody has them! It’s no wonder because it’s a simple switch and it saves tons of resources, energy, and pollution. Trick or Treat Bags are generally reusable, but disposable plastic bags are also a popular choice.

This year you have another option for a reusable trick or treat sack from ChicoBag. 12 year old Estefania won an ChicoBag art contest and her design is on their limited edition Halloween bag. Even if you’re not going out to collect candy this year, the bag would make a good lunch tote for work or school or as a regular old reusable shopping bag.

Perhaps the sweetest part is that ChicoBag donates 10% if the proceeds. The money goes to Treeswing, which are the fine folks behind the amazing eco-friendly, family oriented GreenHalloween.org. It’s an awesome organization and besides “greening” Halloween, they’re doing a lot to bring imagination back to our beloved holiday. Check out Green Halloween for some great tips and fun ideas.